Dance Mapping - Arts Council England

However, the largest group of programmes are dance performance, contemporary dance and
choreography. In other words, the largest percentage of the students is training as performers
and choreographers.
The research carried out by Cross (2009) uses graduate destination data collated by HESA to
highlight what happens to these students. 59 She found that over a three-year period (2005–
2007) only about a quarter of graduates for which there was information went straight into a
job related to dance. Cross found that the majority of those in dance related jobs were
teaching either in schools, community contexts or in the private sector.
Dance related jobs Non relevant jobs Further study/ training
2005 33% 47% 20%
2006 22% 58% 20%
2007 24% 60% 16%
Table 53: Student progression into work
This is of great importance to the field. If graduates are moving into teaching but their
undergraduate programmes are training them as dancers and choreographers, are we
training a workforce that is fit for purpose?
And how are dance professionals engaging with the higher education sector? The research
carried out by Palatine concluded:
• ‘The majority of courses surveyed have close links with professional dance
organisations and/ or professional dance companies. Students are gaining
professional practice through projects which appear to support the dance world’s
need for resources
• ‘There are few ‘pure’ academics working in the field. This practitioner emphasis
suggests courses are well connected to the dance world and respond and adapt
rapidly to its needs’
(Burns, 2007)
59 It should be noted that there are significant limitations to the HESA data as it is a snapshot six months after
graduation and therefore does not give a clear picture of long-term career development. Similarly, not all graduates
respond to the survey and it is likely that it is the less successful ones who don’t respond. This therefore means that
figures may be significantly skewed and may represent a better picture than the reality.
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